Fermentation: the Key to Health and Fighting Antibiotic Resistance - Part One

Fermentation?

Doesn't that mean something is rotten?  Well, let's back up a little first to get a clearer picture.  Has your child had an illness, perhaps an ear infection for which the first antibiotic prescription was not effective at curing?  Maybe you have even hear of Multibiotic Resistant Staph.  What do we do when MRSA is found?  The usual protocol is to dump on disinfectant.  We are fighting a losing battle with these tools.  Here is why.
God created both good bacteria (beneficial) and bad bacteria (pathogenic).  In a perfect world disease and illness would not exist but the reality is that they due since the Fall.  It would be helpful for us to keep this in mind as we shift our thinking into a mode of seeing things as fighting sick infections by adding good bacteria, don't fight disease, instead promote health, don't fight the bad, rather aid the good.  Haven't you heard that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?  Here is the science (literally) behind that common saying.

How we use bacteria today:

• for preservation by pickling, for fermentation - as in the manufacturing of alcoholic beverages, and certain cheeses.
• for decomposition of organic wastes in septic tanks, some sewage disposal plants, and in agriculture for soil enrichment and toxic wastes.
• for curing tobacco

With that in mind, be on the lookout for ways to use the products God gave us in nature in order to prevent creating a competitive environment for the good and the bad bacteria.  Avoid antibacterial soaps, antibiotic creams on the skin for cuts, etc. which kill both the beneficial bacteria as well as the pathogenic bacteria.  It's a little like trying to change "flat earth" thinking as we come to a realization that we can understand the balance in our world.  Some alternatives are aloe vera and coconut oil - a marvelous antimicrobial!  Normal bacteria exist on the skin, in the eye, in the stomach, et cetera.  Why are these normal in some people while not in others?  The answer is the immune system.  Our goal as mothers should be to promote the health of the immune system rather than to kill the bacteria.  For too long (almost 70 years) we have been fighting the bacteria and they have adapted to "outsmart" our medications almost to the point of complete ineffectiveness.  Let's do our best to try an alternative approach in order to ensure good health for our families.

Living Life for Him,

The Cultured Mom